Quinsigamond Community College

1
Quinsigamond Community
College

• On Line Education
• 2005

2
First Responder On Line

• Linda J. Gosselin M.S., REMT IC, Ed.

3
(No Transcript)
4
Chapter 2

• The Well-Being of the First Responder

5
Emotional Aspects of Emergency Care

• You may have to deal with situations that produce
  a high level of stress
• Injury or illness to infants and children
• Elderly patients
• Death and violence
• Mass casualty incidents

6
Five Stages of Dealing with Death and Dying

• Denial Refusing to believe that situation is
  happening.
• Anger Becoming upset at grief-causing event.
• Bargaining Trying to make a deal to postpone
  death and dying.
• Depression Expressing despair.
• Acceptance Recognizing that death and dying
  cannot be changed.

7
Stress Management

• Includes
• Recognition of stress
• Prevention of stress
• Reduction of stress

8
Recognition of Stress

• Irritability
• Inability to focus
• Abnormal disposition
• Difficulty sleeping
• Anxiety
• Indecisiveness

• Guilt
• Loss of appetite
• Loss of sex drive
• Loss of interest in work
• Isolation

9
Prevention of Stress

• Eat a healthy well-balanced diet.
• Drink adequate amounts of liquids.
• Be merry.

10
Reducing Stress

• Pre-incident stress education
• On-scene peer support
• Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD)

11
Scene Safety

• Infectious diseases
• Body substance isolation (BSI)
• Universal precautions
• Immunizations
• Hazards of the scene

12
Key Terms

• Pathogen Disease-causing microorganism.
• Body Substance Isolation (BSI) Concept that
  treats all bodily fluids as potentially
  infectious.
• Universal precautions Procedures for infection
  control that assume blood is potentially
  infectious.

13
Common Infectious Diseases

• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• Hepatitis B
• Tuberculosis

14
Universal Precautions

• Always wear gloves.
• Always wear protective eye wear.
• Wash your hands.
• Do not recap, cut, or bend used needles.
• Dispose of sharps in a sharps container.
• Use a face shield, pocket mask, or other airway
  adjunct for resuscitation.

15
Removal of Gloves

• Proper removal of gloves is important to
  minimize the spread of pathogens.

16
Immunizations

• Tetanus prophylaxis
• Hepatitis B vaccine
• Tuberculin testing

17
Responding to the Scene

• Dispatch Use dispatch information to anticipate
  hazards.
• Response Remember safety when responding.
• Parking your vehicle Park the vehicle so that it
  protects scene from traffic hazards.

18
Assessing the Scene

• Sharp objects
• Animals
• Environmental conditions
• Special rescues
• Airborne and bloodborne pathogens

• Traffic
• Crime or violence
• Crowds
• Electrical hazards
• Fire
• Hazardous materials
• Unstable objects

19
Hazardous Materials Placards

• Federal regulations require vehicles carrying
  hazardous materials (HazMats) to be marked with
  specific placards.
• If you see a HazMat placard at an emergency
  scene, call for assistance.